Breakdown of Ten przystanek jest blisko domu, więc nigdy się nie spóźniam.
być
to be
dom
the house
nie
not
blisko
near
więc
so
ten
this
nigdy
never
przystanek
the bus stop
spóźniać się
to be late
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Questions & Answers about Ten przystanek jest blisko domu, więc nigdy się nie spóźniam.
Why is domu in the genitive case instead of the nominative dom?
Because the adverb/preposition blisko requires the genitive case to express “close to” something. That’s why you say blisko domu (genitive) rather than blisko dom (which would be ungrammatical).
What kind of word is blisko, and why don’t we use the comparative bliżej here?
Blisko functions as an adverb (or preposition) meaning “near” or “close by.” It always takes a noun in the genitive. You only use bliżej when you’re comparing two distances (“This stop is closer than that one”). To state simple proximity, stick with blisko.
Why do we use jest to talk about the stop’s location instead of a verb like leży?
In everyday Polish, jest (the copula “is”) is very common for stating location or existence: Ten przystanek jest blisko domu. You could also say Przystanek leży blisko domu (“The stop lies near the house”), but jest is more neutral and widely used in speech.
Why is the verb in the imperfective aspect (spóźniam się) rather than the perfective (spóźnię się)?
The imperfective aspect expresses habitual or repeated actions. Since you mean “I never arrive late” as a regular fact, you need the imperfective spóźniać się. The perfective spóźnić się would normally refer to a single completed event (“I will be late once”).
Why is the reflexive pronoun się placed before nie in się nie spóźniam? Could we say nie spóźniam się instead?
In Polish, short pronouns and particles (like się) customarily precede the negation nie, giving się nie spóźniam. Placing się after nie (as in nie spóźniam się) is also grammatically possible, but the more natural word order with negation is pronoun → nie → verb.
What is the role of nigdy, and where should it go in the sentence?
Nigdy means “never” and is an adverb of time. It usually comes before the cluster of reflexive pronoun and negation (or directly before the verb). In nigdy się nie spóźniam, it modifies the entire verb phrase “(I) never am late.”
Could we specify whose house it is by adding a possessive pronoun to domu?
Yes. If you want to say “close to my house,” you’d say blisko mojego domu, with domu still in the genitive and mój declined to mojego. Omitting it—blisko domu—just implies “to my house” when the context is clear.
What does więc mean, and can it be swapped for other connectors?
Więc means “so,” “therefore,” or “thus.” You can replace it with synonyms like dlatego or zatem:
Ten przystanek jest blisko domu, dlatego nigdy się nie spóźniam.
Why do we use ten before przystanek? Could we use to or ta?
Polish demonstratives agree in gender, number, and case with the noun. Przystanek is masculine animate in nominative singular, so you use ten. Ta is feminine and to is neuter, so they wouldn’t match.